Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: She wants to live with Dad

The court that will make the decision on custody will be the court of the State of the current order of the State where the child is living, not California. You may wish to re-submit your question stating the it concerns the law of that State, rather than California. Good Luck, Pat McCrary

Re: She wants to live with Dad

Dear Inquirer:

Nothing herein shall create an attorney-client relationship, unless a written retainer agreement is executed by the attorney and client. This communication contains general information only. Nothing herein shall constitute an attorney-client communication nor legal advice. There likely are deadlines and time-limits associated with your case; you should contact an attorney of your choice for legal advice specific to your personal situation, at once.

If you haven't already done so, please visit my

web site at --

http://home.pacbell.net/edbjr/ OR

http://www.CaliforniaDivorceAttorney.com

The site contains quite a bit of general information about California Family Law, Tenants' Rights, and Juvenile Dependencies, and EDD hearings and appeals, as well as information about me (education, experience, et cetera) and my office (location, hours, fees, policies).

NOW, IN RESPONSE TO YOUR INQUIRY --

The facts that you have provided are not clear

enough and/or complete enough to provide a

definitive answer to you inquiry. However, any change of custody should be by court order. The court that made the prior custody order would continue to have exclusive and continuing jurisdiction if the child continues to have significant contacts with that state. If the parties can not agree where the child should live, the court may appoint an attorney for the child (at your expense) to express her desires. Or the court could appoint a mental health or social services professional to conduct an evaluation and make a recommendation on behalf of the child. Absent factors to the contrary, a sixteen year old will probably be allowed to live with the parent of her choice. (Watch out, however, for the tendency of teenagers to "play" one parent against the other. Hopefully you and your ex can agree on what's best for your daughter without court intervention.)

Thanks for sharing your interesting inquiry with

us on LawGuru, and good luck with your case.

Re: She wants to live with Dad

So long as both parents agree on where the chld will live, it is not necessary to go back to court.

Plese consider that if custody is going to change that the parents create an agreement between them to avoid conflict and confusion. Please also be aware this can change a child support award.

Good luck.

Hollie A. Lemkin